OK, I know somebody will eventually put the safety police icon in this thread, but wanted to know if anyone is riding with mouth guards. Last year I tried an inside out backroll that resulted in knee to chin, a few stitches and that great white flash of light. The geometry in mouth was off for a couple of weeks and was on the milk shake diet for a little while.

Fast forward to yesterday and my son landed short on a tantrum with knee to face (guess it is a father son thing) and he was concussed for almost the entire day, cracked a tooth and has another that is loose, and his jaw looks like he just lost a match in the octagon. Still waiting to see what the dental bill is going to be. He must have asked a 1000 times how he ended up in ER, where is brother is, and if he is still going out with his ex-girlfriend. The fog has lifted now and he can now remember just about everything up until he rode.

It seems a mouth guard would have been a useful ounce of prevention and not that I'm not capable of marching to my own drummer, but wanted to see what others are doing of if anyone had data on the usefullness of mouth guards when riding behind a boat. I have never ridden with one, but am thinking of using one and requiring one for my kids at least when trying new inverts.

It is one thing to knock yourself silly, but all the more scary when it is one of your kids. Safe to say my son will be taking all the head precautions for the next 2-4 weeks.

i got my first good bell ringer yesterday. It was one of those "men in black" moments that cost me about 30 minutes of my life. I don't remember getting into the boat or filming for about 20 minutes. I am now thinking about a helmet.

I recently read an article in the newspaper talking about not allowing kids to concentrate or study too hard after getting a concussion. Best wishes on the recovery. I know some people at the cable park have used mouth guards.

I've done the knee to face on a Heel 5. I guess I've already paid my dues with broken teeth. They were spared and instead I split my chin. I have 15K + invested in my teeth.

I don't know. You have to draw the line somewhere, and the chances of it happening again are probably slim. I suppose we could all wear helmets, mouth guards, ear plugs, and knee braces, but what's next?

I took a knee to the face last year and broke a tooth. Luckily it was one of my molers. I always try to remember to wear a mouth guard now especially when trying new tricks. I'm just glad I didn't knock out my front teeth like Andrew did. Fixing teeth is expensive! On a side note, I think its funny how no one buys protective gear until after they hurt themselves. i.e. Andrew and me wear mouth guards now but never did before. Chances are we will never take a chin to the face again, and don't even need the mouth guard. But I bet someone else will take a knee to the face one day, breaking teeth, someone who thinks they don't need to wear one.

I played football in High School and in college and was a Quarterback. Never wore much of mouth guard in High School (chewed it to nothing just so I could say I had one) then in College all QBs went to the dentist and got form fitting mouth guards. I wish I still had that even tho it was almost 20 years ago now. I can say I would think about one especially if they are really form fitting. When I was playing with that in I never took it out, it fit so well I could talk normal and half the time I (nor the refs sometimes) would know I had it in. Check with your dentist. They can't be that expensive, all they did was had us bite into a moulding. Pretty cool stuff actually. 2 or 3 days later our stuff came in. Heck typing this now, I am thinking of asking one of my dentist friends to make me one. If you are slick, you can put it in and take it out without anyone knowing you have one in. If you are worried about being "cool"

It is a bit ironic but normal that you do not think about safety devices until AFTER an incident. Most of go around thinking that it will never happen to me until it does happen. Son has an appointment with oral surgeon and will inquire about custom mouthguards.

Where to draw the line is boils down to personal choice. Most people draw the line before they ever strap on a wakeboard - just too risky for them. Believe my wifee wants us to draw the line there and sell the boat, but she knows that will never happen. If a device can clearly protect without too much expense or significantly hinder you from wakeboarding, seems it should be a go. Yeah there is a vanity cool factor, but walking around with busted teeth not knowing if your still going out with your girfriend is def. not cool.

Was thinking about wearing one when trying to new tricks back in 08' for those reasons mentioned. Bought one and form fitted it and everything. Was not wearing it, went for a 3 and came down wrong with a knee to the chin while sticking tongue out (why I have idea, trying to be like MJ I guess). Broke a tooth in the back, bit into the tongue, and reopened an old wound on the chin. Had to have stitches in the tongue and chin. Now its a mental block if I don't wear it I can't go big. Wearing it also keeps me aware of keeping my tongue in my mouth.

I'm wearing a mouthguard for a couple reasons. First, protecting my teeth. My nightmare is to lose teeth. Second, to help prevent concussions. That's where a helmet comes in also. Third, that I just found out from my dentist, is grinding. Apparently, during sleep and exercise, i tend to grind/clench my teeth, resulting in damage. Seems to me to be a no brainer, y'all. Wear your helmets and mouthguards, and prevent some damage. Plus, it makes me look like a bad-ass.

We wear them for motocross might try them for WB'ing also. My older boy can't ride as well without his. I can usually tell from the sidelines if he forgot to put it in. He is way more aggressive & focused while wearing it. Placebo? Maybe, but it works and certainly can't hurt...............

Don't flame me for this. But what does a helmet help on the water? Say you catch a back edge. Does the helmet actually help with a concussion? I wear a mouth guard nowadays, after doing a backroll to flat and the whole head to knee deal.

I started using one years ago when I got into foiling after taking a few to many ringers. It's saved me from many concussions now over the years. Seen lots of people take knees to chin and either loose teeth or need stitches. My Brother-In-Law knocked his three front teeth 2 days before the wedding years ago. Glad I wasn't on the boat that day or I would probably still be hearing about it from my sister.

I started wearing invisalign last month to correct some bite/wear issues, They obviously aren't intended to be sports guards, but work none the less. One landing last week my chin hit my knee and besides the shock to my neck, the mouth was fine. After the 2 years are up of wearing these things full time, I can see myself still wearing them when boarding. be a shame to mess up a my grill right after fixing it.

Don't flame me for this. But what does a helmet help on the water? Say you catch a back edge. Does the helmet actually help with a concussion? I wear a mouth guard nowadays, after doing a backroll to flat and the whole head to knee deal.

That is a very opinionated topic, but I do not feel a helmet gives protection in a water impact fall, and wish there was a way to opt out of wearing them at cable parks for air and kicker tricks

I wear one when I remember to put it in. I've had a chin to knee and nose to knee crash without one and got lucky with no oral injury. Can't hurt.

I also don't believe a helmet will have much, if any effect on a skull to water impact at wakeboarding speeds. Helmets work because the distribute and slow down the impact. Water by default at wakeboarding speed/height will slow down and distribute the impact. A helmet would obviously be beneficial in a board (or other solid object) to skull impact though. I definitely wouldn't hit up the cable park without one but I usually don't wear one behind the boat.

I have a friend who is a pretty good wakeboarder and had never had a concussion. Guess what happened on the first set he ever wore a helmet behind a boat? Concussion after impact with the water. That's obviously totally anecdotal but amusing and ironic.

In short I think a mouth guard is more important and more likely to save you from injury than a helmet if you're behind a boat and aren't hitting kickers/rails.

Never worn a mouth guard while wakeboarding but now thinking I'm going to get one after reading this

And on the helmets topic, I always wear a helmet, boat or cable. My sisters cracked a helmet coming down heel edge into the water, only had a minor conmcussion for the day, but imagine it would have been worse without the helmet on.

So the impact on the water cracked the helmet? Or her head hitting the helmet cracked it? I'm not going to pretend I know or know what's right, I just know my personal opinion and experiences. A statement like that is so general and without proof, that no one really knows whether wearing a helmet lessens the risk or not. I know the worst bell rings I've had are with a helmet, because I have to wear it at the cable park.

If you are experienced at hitting kickers there is little need for a helmet.

I have a couple buddies that do. Definitely doesn't hurt and I don't think anybody ever thought for a second it affected how "cool" they looked.

He does, but not sure if it's all the time. I know when he was here for 5 days a few weeks ago, he wore one during the double-up contest. I don't recall him wearing one when we were out just doing normal, non-competition sets. He could have just forgotten to wear it few times, or maybe just wears them when his doing strictly double-up sets.

So the impact on the water cracked the helmet? Or her head hitting the helmet cracked it?

The impact with the water cracked it, I don't know wether it was a fault with the helmet, she'd had it for a few years, but still a good enough reason to me to wear one. And its not going to make wakeboarding less safe if you wear a helmet, but thats just my opinion on the subject